“She played amazingly and fought for every point. “I played pretty well, I didn’t have much info on my opponent,” said Osaka, who won the title at Melbourne Park in 20. An ace down the middle then secures the hold, and Zverev knows how important that is, hollering his approval.Naomi Osaka took the victory in two sets. No matter, a bousting second serve opens the angle for a forehand winner and when he makes advantage following a backhand error from Djokovic, ole Nole destroys his racket that’ll teach it. This is a crucial passage coming up, and after Zverev opens the court with a serve out wide, he sends his clean-up backhand to the opposite corner. but then he goes long and we’re at deuce. Zverev is stepping into the ball now, two crushing backhands into the same corner giving him game point.

before Djokovic goes long with a backhand.

But Zverev then nets a backhand after Djokovic defends well to stay in it. He points out how many players have been hurt, saying the need to quarantine is taking its toll, and can’t wait for that to no longer be necessary.ĭjokovic (6)6-7 6-2 1-4 Zverev* The players have to wait for new balls, so Djokovic sits himself down on the court like a petulant toddler. He’s not very familiar with Karatsev, but knows he’s got a great backhand – “Russian school of tennis” – and feels sorry for Dimitrov, who he thought was playing well till he got injured. He then thanks his physio’s “magic hands” and those of the ATP physios, won’t practise on his day off, and hopes for a similar result.

He goes on to note that he started every set badly apart from the second, allowing his opponent to swing through the ball, and smashing up his racket helped him. He feels drained and congratulates Zverev for how well he played, saying they pushed each other to the limit. After the first-set breaker, he felt better, and says he thinks he had more aces, “a miracle” for him against someone like Zverev. Djokovic tells Jim Courier that given his injury he needs time to warm up, despite hitting for an hour before the match started – he’s never had an injury as bad as this during a slam.

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